Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

I’ve been a big fan of Wi-Fi at the truck stop since its infancy; way back in 2003. As a matter of fact, even though connecting to the Internet via cell data cards has its attractions, I still prefer Wi-Fi. But Wi-Fi has its drawbacks and the biggest one that I experience is the dreaded “weak signal”.

Because of the loads I haul, which can be in excess of 100′, I sometimes find myself parking so far from the facilities that Wi-Fi radio signals emanating from the access point are incredibly weak by the time they reach me. So weak, as a matter of fact, that I’ve wondered if they could even be detected if I mounted a SETI antenna atop the sleeper. For this reason I’m always on the lookout for new Wi-Fi antennas that claim to be super-sensitive; and I just found another one.

The C. Crane Company has been in business for nearly 30 years and is probably best known for its radios. They have a lot of other products, though, (some of which will be the subject of future posts) and the one that caught my eye most recently is the Super USB WiFi Antenna. There are a couple of things I really like about this antenna:

• High-Gain: Most high-gain antennas are in the range of 5-9 dBi but the Super USB WiFi antenna boasts 20 dBm of gain.
• Suction Cup Mounting: With 15′ of cable you can use the suction cups to attach the antenna to a window. This gives you the opportunity to put the antenna in an area where the radio signal has fewer obstructions.

Even though the C. Crane Company markets this product as an antenna; it is, in reality, a USB Wi-Fi adapter (that’s why the gain is expressed as dBm rather than dBi). That means you can’t use the Super USB WiFi antenna to boost the reception of your internal Wi-Fi card but you can use it instead of your internal card if you’re stuck in a spot that the signal barely reaches.

By the way, I’ve been in contact with the C. Crane Company and I’m hoping to have more information regarding this and other C. Crane products quite soon so keep checking back.